Resort Honesty Score
Government snow sensors don't have marketing departments. Resorts do. We compared the numbers.
SNOTEL stations measure snowfall with cold, unfeeling precision. Resort snow reports... sometimes take creative liberties. Here's who's keeping it real and who's writing fiction.
Avg. Inflation
-47%
across all 15 tracked resorts
Most Honest
Steamboat
Score: 100 · Grade: A
Biggest Fibber
Keystone
Score: 48 · Inflation: +35%
How We Score This
We pull daily snow depth readings from NRCS SNOTEL stations -- government sensors that sit near each resort and measure snowfall without spin. Then we compare that to the snowfall numbers each resort reports through their official channels.
The honesty score (0-100) reflects how closely a resort's reported snowfall matches what SNOTEL actually measured. A perfect 100 means the resort's numbers match the sensors exactly. Every percentage point of inflation drops the score.
Caveats: SNOTEL stations aren't always at the exact same elevation as the resort's reporting station. Wind, aspect, and microclimates all affect snowfall. Some discrepancy is totally expected -- we're looking for patterns, not perfection. A 10-15% difference? Normal. 50%+? That's a story.